Patriots are made of the stuff of Super Bowl trophies
HOUSTON — This isn’t right. This isn’t fair. How do you compete with stuff like this? The New England Patriots, beaten, busted, disgusted for 59 minutes of Super Bowl LI decided that they would not go quietly into this night.
They decided that America, about 75 percent of which wanted them to lose according to polls actually done on the topic, would have to wait another year to see the decline of the NFL’s greatest sports dynasty.
Down 28-3, the Patriots scored 25 unanswered points in loud, shocking, breakneck fashion, leaving the Atlanta Falcons and their fans and all of us, really, in disbelief as they sent this game into overtime.
And then, as if working off a script, the Patriots took the ball in overtime and marched for a game-winning and historic touchdown.
So, yeah, the Patriots scored 31 unanswered points.
“It just was an avalanche,” quarterback Tom Brady said. Patriots 34. Falcons 28. How do you fight stuff like this? You’re Adam Gase in Miami or Todd Bowles in New York or the nameless rookie head coach in Buffalo and you have to compete with … with … this?
With Brady breaking the Super Bowl record for completions (43) and passing yards (466).
With Belichick’s defense looking like a turnstile for three quarters and then shutting down the Falcons’ record-breaking offense in the fourth quarter and overtime. How do you compete with this? The Patriots played their seventh Super Bowl in the Brady-Belichick era Sunday evening. They have won five of those following this overtime victory. So that’s the formula? Get lucky? That’s how you beat the Patriots? Before Sunday, it was thought, the way to beat New England in the postseason is to make Brady more worried about surviving than winning. Pressure him. Sack him. He’ll lose.
The Falcons did this. They sacked Brady five times Sunday. And they lost. It’s depressing. It really is. This year was supposed to be the season teams caught up to the Patriots. Brady was suspended the first month of the season and the Patriots would have to resort to Jimmy Garoppolo to play quarterback. Well, Garoppolo was 2-0 as a starter and then he got injured. And then the freakin’, frackin’ Patriots went to their thirdstringer. They still managed to finish 3-1 during the Brady suspension. Spygate didn’t stop them. Deflategate didn’t stop them. Players leaving or retiring didn’t stop them. Coaches going elsewhere didn’t stop them.
This team is seemingly made of steel — or whatever it is those five Super Bowl trophies are made of.